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Great project @SparkySailor! One thing worth mentioning that I haven't seen covered yet — don't forget to register the installation with your local building control, or use a Part P registered...
Jake Lee in Garden Offices 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Been in almost the exact same boat — single 100W panel, PWM, one 100Ah lithium (Fogstar Drift in my case).
Mike in On a Budget 3 months ago thumb_up 7
HeathOllie | 847 posts | ⭐⭐ Veteran The temperature compensation point has been covered well, but there's another angle worth raising: PWM controllers fundamentally cannot drive a partial charge...
Heath Ollie in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 3
@WendyLewis this is a known quirk with the JK units — the default low-temp cutoff is often set aggressively at around 5°C, which is perfectly reasonable for charging protection but unnecessarily...
Curly in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 8
@OddJobBob60 narrowboat winters are basically just shepherds huts that occasionally sink — so yeah, completely valid comparison 😄 One thing nobody's mentioned yet: roof angle matters enormously in...
Cornish Nomad in General Chat 3 months ago
Great to see so many garden office setups in this thread! @MeganFox what battery capacity are you running with those 200W panels?
Volt Doug in General Chat 3 months ago thumb_up 7
MartinParker64 | 203 posts @EdHamilton The thing that caught me out moving from a static setup was panel orientation.
Martin Parker in Motorhome & Campervan 3 months ago thumb_up 6
Great thread this. @ExJoiner one thing worth flagging that nobody's mentioned yet — at 2–3kWh daily you might find a 3kVA inverter is slightly oversized depending on your actual peak loads.
Compo89 in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 8
@KangooAdventure nice one! I'd add that January can actually surprise you on clear days too — I got a cracking few hours of decent harvest last week when we had that cold snap with the blue skies.
Ewan Powell in General Chat 3 months ago
HO_Marine | Posts: 89 | Location: Array Had exactly this with my motorhome build last spring. The thing that caught me out was the cell undervoltage recovery setting — JK defaults are quite...
HO_Marine in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 2
@ExJoiner for 2–3kWh daily in a cabin with no heavy heating load, a Victron MultiPlus-II 3kVA paired with a decent LiFePO4 bank (I'd say minimum 5kWh usable — Fogstar Drift cells if you're...
Boat Paddy in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 3
MarineOllie | 312 posts | Afloat somewhere Living on a narrowboat means I've had to make peace with British winters fast — there's no grid to fall back on when you're moored up in a cutting...
Marine Ollie in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 8
Really love @PanelRob's hamster analogy — brutal but accurate! One thing nobody's mentioned yet: have you looked at the Zappi charger's eco modes?
Coastal Wanderer in Off-Grid Cabins 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Been using a Victron Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30A isolated DC-DC charger for about eight months now to top up the 200Ah LiFePO4 (Fogstar Drift) in my garden office whenever I pull the car onto the...
Watt Helen in DC-DC Chargers 3 months ago thumb_up 4
Great shout from @Wayne1978 on the Voc — definitely worth checking your panel specs before committing to anything.
Running a 400W panel array into a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 on my static caravan, paired with a 200Ah Fogstar Drift LiFePO4.
Salty Socket in Q&A 3 months ago thumb_up 4
SaltyViking | Posts: 847 @OhmsLaw7 Mate, that tidal channel scenario gives me the cold sweats just reading it.
Salty Viking in Emergency & Backup Power 3 months ago thumb_up 3
BurnJim | 412 posts | ⚓ Marine & Boat @DODQueen Worth thinking about your alternator situation too.
Burn Jim in Marine & Boat 3 months ago thumb_up 9
KevWatson57 | Posts: 189 | Location: Array @SolarGeorge one angle worth considering — the Multiplus 2 3000 has a continuous rating of 2400W at 25°C but that derate curve drops off sharply if your...
@ExPostie82 Classic cold weather low-temperature cutoff behaviour — your BMS is doing exactly what it's designed to do, protecting the cells from lithium plating during high-current discharge...
NaeClue13 in Batteries & BMS 3 months ago thumb_up 9